Class Description
In this election season, you probably have strong opinions. But perhaps you don’t know how to turn them into strong op-eds. In this class, you will learn how to turn your passions, expertise and personal takes into compelling, persuasive arguments.
Each week, we'll look at published op-eds, commentaries, and topical personal essays by a range of voices and on diverse topics, all torn from the pages (and web-pages) of newspapers, magazines, and online publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, WBUR's Cognoscenti, Newsweek, NBC Think, The Washington Post, Salon, and various specialized and local publications. We'll mine these exemplary works for inspiration and instruction, and you’ll write a new 600- to 800-word op-ed every other week to be presented in class for feedback (on a rotating workshop schedule to be determined by class enrollment).
Over the six weeks, you'll practice: 1) how to hone your topic into a focused, timely, topical and marketable idea responsive to current events, news and culture that editors want; 2) how find good topics for you, and how to leverage your personal experience and expertise; 3) how to master basic op-ed technique and structure, including rhetorical devices like taking a stance, establishing a good hook, and recognizing both sides of a discussion; and 4) how and where to submit them to newspapers, magazines, and online publications.
Writing Roadmap: We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.